


Objection!

by cockabeetle



Series: Owari Magica [47]
Category: Owari Magica
Genre: F/M, Pheonix Wright Gameplay, kids being friends, talking at night, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:01:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26853358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cockabeetle/pseuds/cockabeetle
Summary: Sierra and Percy play videogames after percy sneaks into her window at midnight
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Richards/Sierra Delany
Series: Owari Magica [47]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815574





	Objection!

"Objection," Sierra muttered under her breath, mimicking the game. It was one she'd probably played dozens of times by now, but what could she say, it was a good one. Phoenix's past, all the interesting cases, fun characters, and Phoenix & Edgeworth's banter, the game never got old.

She paused and glanced over to the clock, resting the ds on her knees. It was getting late. Everyone else was no doubt asleep by now, but Sierra didn't want to try to lay down. It felt like a pointless endeavor, like she'd just be laying there till sunrise. She huffed, readjusted her earbuds, and turned back to the game.

"Well well well April May, you have certainly gave yourself away. Prepare to go down."

For how often Percy snuck in and out of his room, the universe would have expected him to remember which open window was his. However, as he comes home from the arcade today, he finds himself in the guest room, one leg in and staring at the girl playing on her desk. Sierra had been living with him for about a week, and he hadn't quite gotten used to it yet. He swallowed and flashed her a smile and a wave, awkwardly finishing coming in. "Sorry, wrong window. Just stopping by the house to change..." He rubbed his hands on his shorts. He'd thought it would be warmer, but he'd been freezing all day. "What are you playing?"

"Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney!" Sierra did little dramatic movements as she spoke. "Ever played it?" She clutched the ds close to her chest in excitement.

Figuring out why he was crawling into his own house in the middle of the night like a third rate cat burglar could wait. She had more important mysteries to solve.

Percy laughed to himself. So excited... and kind of cute. Not that he was thinking about it. "Nope, can't say I have. Is it fun? What's the gameplay like?" His eyebrows rise.

Sierra gave an affronted gasp. She scrambled out of her blankets, the old style nightgown flowing around her as she got up and walked over to him, shoving the ds in his face.

"How have you never played it?! It's a game where you're the defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, in a court of law. Gotta navigate your path to victory while dealing with bizarre people and ruthless prosecutors. Your goal being to prove your clients innocence and solve the crime. I can't believe you've never played it. You've at least heard of it, right?!"

Percy backed up a step, hands coming placatingly in front of him and laughing. "Whoa! Does, uh, a gif set online count?" He took a second to actually process her words. "Huh. That actually sounds up my alley. Maybe I'll..." he grinned and tugged it out of her hands, holding it over her head. "Give it a try?"

Sierra glared at him till the words sunk in. Then she jumped up, brimming with enthusiasm.

"Absolutely you can try! Hand it over and I'll make a save file for you." Sierra bounced on her toes, reaching for the ds. "I've never got to actually help someone play through it before, especially someone playing for the first time! This is gonna be so cool! You'll love it! Edgeworth's reactions are to die for. Though you may prefer Franziska or Godot, they're cool too!"

Percy laughed and leaned down until he was in her face, studying her reaction for a second with a grin on his own lips. Then he straightens and passes it to her, putting his hands in his pockets. "You switch to a new save file, I'm changing real quick. Alright?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Do what you gotta do." She waved him off, her face already back to the ds as she saved her progress and fixed her earbuds. This was going to be so cool!

Percy slipped through the bathroom that connected their rooms, not closing the doors completely. He didn't think she'd see anything, and even if she did, he didn't care. His window and blinds had been open since he turned 6, after all. He swaps the blue shorts out for fishnets and ripped jeans on top, and his hoodie for a bigger, warmer, thicker sweater. The sweater was white and slid down his shoulder a bit, but it just showed off the sleeve of the acid green pokemon shirt he'd had underneath. He raked his fingers through his hair as he came back into her room, adjusting his sneakers on his feet. "Much better. Okay, let's do this. Show me the lawyers."

Sierra, by then, was sitting below the window with her knees to her chest, gesturing him forward. With the shifting light of the ds on her face and her insistent tapping of the stylus to the screen, it was clear she was changing the brightness.

Percy settled down next to her, a softer smile on his face now. "Okay. So, what's the goal?"

She scooches closer, putting the ds in his hands. "First it sets the scene."

Percy nodded, pressing the A button as he slowly read through it. "What's this one about?"

"An old friend of Phoenix's got accused of murdering his girlfriend and we have three days to help prove his innocence. Oh, it’s going to be so cute seeing him all nervous for his first real case!" Sierra cheered.

Percy let his eyebrows. "Cute boys? Sign me up." He watched as a decidedly not cute boy appeared onscreen.

"Unfortunately, my favorite boy doesn't show up till the second trial, though Mia is pretty cute." She shrugged. Too bad Mia wasn't going to be around for long.

He clicked again, and it took him to a lobby this time. "Ooh, fancy." He nodded. "So we already kinda know the truth."

"Yep! Now we just have to prove it." This was so cool! Sierra cheered, “Oh, I can’t wait for you to actually get to see Phoenix in action! You actually get to see him during the court scenes, and he's always so cute!”

He leaned to the side to rest his head on hers for a second. "So do you like it for the plot, or the pretty guy?"

She hummed. There were so many things she loved about the game. The puzzles, the plot, the music, and the characters were all so great. "How dare you try to make me choose? Both are equally loved."

He nodded. "Good. I'm tired of people who only play things they hate." He settled in better. Somehow it didn't bother him to be here, as long as he wasn't alone. Maybe he'd even be able to sleep in his own bed for once- the bags under his eyes were getting harder to hide.

She poked him. "Stay awake. Second case is where things get interesting. This is mostly just story and tutorial, but it doesn't last long."

"Tutorial is always fun." He pointed at the first character to show up. "Who is that?"

"That’s Mia Fey. She's real smart." Sierra hummed. She's also murdered after the tutorial, but she was going to let Percy learn that on his own. "So what do you do while you're out and about at night?" Sierra asked during an unimportant moment.

He tapped at the screen to make it continue, not paying attention to much other than the controls. "The park. The beach. Luis', when he's talking to me. Sometimes I just go and I walk until my feet hurt and I can't see straight, then I come home and get my bag and go to school." He shot her a look. "Don't like being inside much. You? What do you do when you're inside?"

"That sounds like fun, I don't know the last time I've actually been to the beach. Hmmm, well do you mean like nowadays or back when I was with Nanna?" Sierra pouted, this case wasn't great, but he didn't need to speed through it. "Slow down, if you don't pay attention you won't know how to solve the case. Do you want poor Larry Butz to be charged guilty for murder?" Butz may stink, but a murderer he was not. She quietly chuckled at her own stupid pun.

Percy paused and reviewed the case. "Do... I still continue if he does get charged for murder? Are wrong endings good too?"

"Nope. Gotta get it right or no going on." Sierra declared. "To get a guilty verdict is to fail at your job."

Percy hummed and selected a dialogue option that he thought worked. "And what if I'm just a terrible, amateur lawyer?"

"Well then, my amateur lawyer, we are going to be here all night listening to Butz and his shitty testimony," Sierra pointed out. She smiled to herself as he chose the right option. Sure Butz going to the dead girls was suspicious as hell, but contradicting the witness to hide things would just lead to more useless lies. Percy was doing good, even if he may not think so.

Percy hummed at her. "I do hate his shitty testimony... and tell me about your Nanna. I didn't really get to be around grandparents much. I think my Mom's dad is in a home, but dad's parents passed already? They don't really talk about it."

"Oh?" Sierra thought about it for a moment. Resting her head in her hands on her knees, she looked out into the moonlit room. "Well I've been with her since I was kid. She was there for me when no one wanted to deal with me and..." She paused that wasn't how she wanted to talk about it. "My Nanna's home always smells like cinnamon apples to the point that I no longer really recognize the smell. She has something she calls 'neighborhood club' which is mostly her and her friends meeting at the house doing a lot of different stuff. She always left music on when I was little when she went out so I wouldn't feel alone. Her art’s really pretty, she loves to have it hanging up so it's all over the house. Like this really weird dog painting in the guest bathroom, I swear it stares into your soul." She trails off. What would happen to all of that if her uncle moving Nanna out? Would her art no longer line the walls? Would the world around her still smell of apple crumble candles? Would Sierra be able to even see her again to find out?

Sierra glanced up at Percy. Had she been quiet too long? Should she say something? She had to say something. "What's it like having proper parents? Well, uh, as proper as assholes on the verge of divorce can be..."

Percy choked for a moment, lifting a hand to his mouth to hide a sputter of laughter. "Divorce? Nah, Mom's too stubborn for that. But..." the half smile faded to a softer one. "Your Nanna sounds really cool. Maybe we can go visit sometime? Make her a cinnamon apple pie?" He nudged her with his shoulder. "And proper parents... hate when you're outside because your immune system sucks, and limit your diet way too much but in dumb ways because they pretend they know more than they do, and they end up ruining any uh, human interaction you try to have, but it's just the way things are, so you don't realize something is wrong. Then one day you realize you've never had a friend, and you've never been to real school, and your parents go to a high school reunion and leave you alone for a night and it all just hits you." He laughed awkwardly. "At first it was just fun rebellious little stuff, but now... me and mom really kinda hate each other. We used to be close, but... I can't help being bitter. I missed out on figuring out how to be a real kid because they were too scared of finding out how real kids got hurt."

"Fear is a powerful thing. It paints your view of the world." Sierra thought back to her own state of mind before the wish. It was so far from her now, yet it wasn't. It felt like a different lifetime and at the same time like she would wake up tomorrow only to be back to worrying about her theoretical boogieman. "Getting hurt is easy. Death is also so very easy: infection, injuries, illness, kidnapping, allergic reactions, and um- car accidents. Those are all some pretty easy ways for a kid to die. I can't blame them for being scared. Be a rebel, take risks, live as if death could catch you at any moment. At least then you had the choice. If you kick the bucket its because you kicked. Hmm, I certainly wouldn't want to be the parent that killed their own kid before they got that choice. Nowadays, I think they're cowards who can't let go."

Her words caught him off guard for a moment, but then he sighed and leaned back. She didn't know about their fates, and was still talking about the present. He... sighed. "My parents have always been about digging their claws in and not letting go. Too stubborn..." he waved a hand in front of himself. "But you know a lot about fear, does it have something to do with your wish?"

Sierra pursed her lips. "I mean it's kind of obvious. Does someone with nothing to fear wish to be fearless? Think like an attorney." She raised her fingers to count along. "I never left my house. I have lived with my grandmother for many years. I wished to be free from fear and regret." She gave a weak laugh and an attempt at a smile. "Well, has the defense reached a plausible conclusion?" She didn't want to go down this rabbit hole. Why did she have to open her goddamn mouth? Why was she still talking? God, why couldn't she just shut up?

Percy set the DS down, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Thought so, kitten. Come on, chin up. We've all been through it, and it's okay to want to be on the other side of it. Better not to regret your wish, trust me." Thoughts of Ana... "Trust me."

Sierra laughed at that. A deep in her gut, genuine laughter falling from her lips. "Regret?!" She scoffed. "This is the happiest I've been in years!" She quieted down, thinking more about it. "Sure I could have wished for other stuff, stuff that some people may consider a better use. Maybe do the selfless thing? But what's the point if I can't enjoy it. If I pay the price then I should get to reap the reward. You know?"

She rested her head against his shoulder, leaning into him. Life was more confusing and hectic than it's ever been, but she wasn't lying when she said she was happier. Plus she never would have met Percy without her wish, so that was another positive aspect of it.

Percy felt a little smile growing on his face. Selfishness wasn't a crime, and not regretting your wish was the first step to staying alive. But why was he hesitating? He could tell her that, or he could just... tell her the full truth. Now.

It was probably too soon.

"Good. It's better to find happiness and grab onto it. No one can take it unless we let them!"

She gives a sleepy nod as her eyes fall closed. Percy was really really comfy to lay against. Maybe he wouldn't mind if they stayed like that for a moment. Could the world slow down to let her rest her eyes for a moment? It would just be for a moment. Then they could talk more or something...

He had been expecting some kind of response, but then Sierra's breathing evened out... and who was he to wake someone up when they were comfortable? He keeps working on the game with one hand, turning the volume down and humming to himself. She was cute when she was sleeping, after all. Win-win.


End file.
